Zilya Merchenkov

Name: Zilya Merchenkov

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Grade: Eleven

School: Hobbsborough High School/North Toronto High School

Homeroom: Laney

Hobbies and Interests: Karaoke, Lacrosse, Teaching Art Classes, Volunteering at a Hospital, piano, photography.

Appearance: Standing at 5'7, Zilya Merchenkov has the features of what some have sometimes referred to as 'typical Russian beauty'. Zilya, of course, thinks that this is a silly and also obnoxious concept, and as such will often glare at people who refer to her as such. She has brown hair that is shoulder-length, that she often straightens, as she prefers that style. Not a proponent of excessive makeup, Zilya will give herself a slight touch-up in the morning, but generally only goes with a bit of blush. Her eyes are a piercing green, though portions of her right eye are brown, thanks to an eye condition known as sectoral heterchromia. Zilya's skin is slightly pale, thanks to her Russian heritage, thus the reason that she uses the minimal amounts of blush. Upon occasion, she will use eyeliner as well, but that's primarily when she's getting ready to go out for a formal outing.

Zilya is often found clad in shirts that are her favourite colour of green, and particularly likes wearing one in particular - a green collared t-shirt that has no real logos or anything on it. She enjoys the shirt because she purchased it while on a trip to Disney Land in Florida, and the trip was a fond memory for her, when she was little. As far as pants go, Zilya doesn't have much of a preference and tends to alternate between jeans, track pants, and shorts (weather permitting, of course). Often, Zilya will be seen not with a smile on her face, but generally a serious look. It's not that she's not a happy person - as she is, quite a bit, it's just that she's generally quiet and reserved when she's around the general populace, and does a lot of thinking to herself. Some people misinterpret this as her being angry, when that just isn't the case.

Biography: Born as the fourth child in a family of five children, Zilya Merchenkov is quite-well travelled. Being one half of a pair of fraternal twins (unbelievably the first of two pairs of twins in her family), Zilya is the lone female in what is a male-dominated family. Aside from her, her mother is the only other female amongst her and her siblings. While Zilya gets along quite well with her siblings, she despises her absentee father, who left her and the rest of her family when she was quite young. She has always held a grudge against him for doing so, and doesn't like to speak about him. Otherwise, Zilya's got a pretty good family life.

As mentioned before, Zilya is well-travelled. After moving from Russia to England, she attended school in England and accustomed herself to the English culture and lanugage. As a result, she speaks near-flawless English. As a result of her heritage, (Russian on her father's side, and Russian-German on her mother's side) Zilya speaks Russian, English, AND German, and is fluent in all three languages. At the age of fifteen, Zilya enrolled in an exchange program that would allow her to do her high schooling in Canada, all the while learning about the North American culture. It was a golden opportunity for the girl who was dubbed as 'the top student in her school', and she snatched it up, moving to her third continent and fourth country of residence.

Once Zilya arrived in Canada, she found that the lifestyle was undoubtedly a little more lax and just as enjoyable as anywhere else she'd lived. While Zilya didn't always fit in with the other students in Canada, she very quickly found her niche, and excelled in her new surroundings. She was consistently amongst the top students in each of her classes, and worked hard to get her marks. As such, she didn't socialize as much as she could have, and found herself missing her long-time boyfriend, Caden, a goofy Scotsman who she'd met back in England, as well as her family, who still lived over there. She spoke with them on the phone and the Internet as much as she could, but it just wasn't the same as having them there with her. As much as that tugged at her heart, Zilya knew that she was motivating herself primarily through pride, so that she could go back and feel as though she'd accomplished something that none of them had ever been able to do - go on an exchange.

Another opportunity opened itself up for Zilya in early 2005, one that she jumped at with little hesitation. Her school in Toronto was allowing three students the opportunity to attend school in the United States and along with the credit that she would recieve from the school in the States, she would essentially earn double credit for each course taken, and through that would be able to graduate a semester earlier than the rest of her peers. With the offer only being available to top students who were involved in extra-curriculars and were a good model for the school AND the country. Zilya applied for the program, and was one of the three students who were chosen for the program. While being relative aquaintances with the other two boys who were chosen for this special program, Zilya was excited, as it would mean that her life-long journey would have taken her from Russia to England, overseas to Canada, and finally to the United States, where she'd be able to experience a whole different culture.

As mentioned before, Zilya doesn't socialize a lot in school, preferring to focus upon her studies. She makes friends easily, but tends to stray from group to group, having many aquaintances but only a few close friends. It takes a lot to get into her inner circle, but once you're there, you tend to stay there unless you do something to her or someone close to her. While Zilya IS quiet, when she takes offense at something or gets angry at someone, she will 'do it with style'. She flies off of the handle, yelling at the person and proving to have quite the fiery temper. Afterwards, she always feels slightly guilty for losing her temper like that, but generally tends not to dwell on it too much.

Like most Russians, Zilya's alcoholic drink of choice is Vodka, and she has definitely built up a bit of a tolerance to it. While she doesn't drink often, she does at times that she's stressed or feeling festive. When she gets drunk, she has a tendancy to become clumsy and trip over things like tables and chairs, as well as a strange yearning to sing karaoke.

Zilya also has trouble at times with presentations, when nerves sometimes get the better of her. Recently, she's been able to stomach that fear and has pulled off some pretty decent presentations in her classes. In her spare time, she volunteers at a local hospital, hoping to get an idea of what the atmosphere of such a place is like - being as she's hoping to enroll in medical school and become a doctor once she returns to Europe. Thusfar, the experience has given her the idea she was looking for but has also been a very enlightening experience as well.

Zilya has an above-average intelligence and an aptitude for memory. Once, one of her 'nerdalinger' friends called her a "real-life Mary Sue". Zilya had to go and search the term, and was slightly annoyed when she found out what it meant. She's in good physical shape and has joined the Lacrosse teams at both of her high schools. She's an average player who doesn't see a lot of playing time, but she enjoys learning the game and participating.

Her favourite snack food is Cheese Doodles, otherwise known in the US and Canada as 'Cheesies'.

Advantages: Her intelligence will be an advantage for certain, as will her memory. She's in good physical shape and is socially apt, so she shouldn't have any problems fitting in with a group - that is, if she decides to get together with anyone.

Disadvantages: She's a bit of a loner at times, and the shock of the 'Survival of the Fittest' situation will likely infuriate her. She may have difficulty keeping her temper in check, especially if dealing with an idiot. Zilya will NOT play the 'forlorn female' card, and in a sense is a bit of a tomboy, which may be a deterrant to potential allies.

Number: G#59

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Weapon: Tri-Nunchaku

Conclusions: This is an interesting one. She's easy on the eyes, shame she's probably too stuck up to use it as an advantage. Oh well, maybe she can come through some other way, that temper might catch a few of these brats by surprise, heh.

'The above biography is as written by Adam. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Kills: N/A

Killed by: Explosion

Collected Weapons: Tri-Nunchaku (Issued Weapon)

Allies: Maggie Heartgreeder, Blake Ross

Enemies: John Davies

Mid-Game Evaluation:

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes: "Oh Shit" - Just before the boiler exploded

Other/Trivia

 * Zilya is based off of handler Riserugu.

Threads
A list of threads that contained Zilya, in chronological order.
 * Without You
 * Sweet Serenity
 * To Awake and Avenge the Dead
 * Restraining Order: Part Two
 * A Remarkable End

Your Thoughts
Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Zilya Merchenkov. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!